[colug-432] Machine for bar code scanning inventory in warehouse

[andy.graybeal at casanueva.com]

Hi folks,

What do you use for inventory tracking / invoices / warehouse management
-- Software and Hardware?

I'm helping a quickly advancing small business come up with ideas for
their warehouse management.  They have a small warehouse and would like to
track their inventory with bar codes.  Does anyone have experience with
this and care to comment?

Currently they want to enter this stuff into a (csv) spreadsheet and then
feed it into Quickbooks.  Quickbooks manages their inventory and invoices.

Hardware:
Is a tablet the way to go?  Is there a tried and true piece of hardware
that would be best for a dusty warehouse and still be able to export the
data csv style?

Just because tablets are cool, I've looked at the rugged tablet from
http://www.ruggedtabletpc.com/  and the Motorola ET1
http://www.motorolasolutions.com/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/Tablets/ET1+Enterprise+Tablet

I realize a tablet might not be the best way to go but it was my first
thought, them being trendy and all (i don't even own one).

If we do go the tablet route should we get a disposable consumer product
like an Asus? (It is a dry goods warehouse, beans and corn mainly; lots of
dust from cleaning and milling happening inside the warehouse) Not that
asus isn't cool, i love asus!!  but i mean, it's not built for warehouse
type of work.  

Also if we go with a tablet, I question Android.. but all questions are
bunk if I can run everything through a web interface.  I'm used to Ubuntu
and would prefer that on the tablet.  I understand my bias and I'm up for
giving Android a go, it apparently works better with tablets, though,
please correct me if I am mistaken :)  Can I get an android device to
quickly scan bar codes and export csv at the office.

Planning for the future, I would like to steer them to something more ERPy
but something not as complex as Compiere/Adempiere/Idempiere... At this
point I can't understand a package like that.  Maybe I'll give another
crack at Compiere/A/Idempiere... I almost understand it but it gives me
plenty of anxiety and I would need someone with a strong finance
understanding to hold my hand through it.  Other ERPy software i've been
eyeballing is OpenBravo and Xtuple.

Is there a better place I should be asking that anyone can recommend?  

Does anyone here have an open source run warehouse/inventory that I could
mentor with?

Andy